Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Issued July 1,
Revised July 1,
Revised July 1,
Reprinted February 1,
Revised July 28,
Revised September 26,
Revised August 3,
Revised November 16,
Revised December 21,
1981
1987
1990
1997
2000
2002
2005
2007
2009
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM
______ I have received the Plan-Confirmation Booklet, have read it, and have a
complete understanding of my responsibilities for personal services
reporting under the Plan Confirmation System.
OR
_____ I would like to attend a presentation of the Plan-Confirmation Booklet in
order that I may gain a more complete understanding of my responsibilities
for personal services reporting under the Plan Confirmation System.
Employees Name:
_______________________________________________
Please Print or Type
Employee Identification #
or GTID # :
______________________________________________
School/Department:
_______________________________________________
Please Print or Type
Employees Signature:
_______________________________________________
Date:
_______________________________________________
RETURN TO GRANTS AND CONTRACTS ACCOUNTING OFFICE, MAIL CODE 0259, WITHIN
THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER RECEIPT OF YOUR PLAN CONFIRMATION SYSTEM BOOKLET
Background.. Page 2
Compensation for Personal Services ... Page 3
After-the-Fact Activity RecordsNon-Professional Employees... Page 3
Plan-Confirmation System:Professorial and Professional Empl. .. Page 3
Salary Planning and Distribution (SPD) System Page 5
Georgia Institute of Technology Budget System.. Page 5
Plan Confirmation System - Reports, Standards, Responsibilities
Departmental Responsibilities . Page 6
Monthly Updated Workload Assignment Forms. Page 6
Significant Changes in Workload Distribution. Page 7
Retroactive Changes in Workload Distribution Page 7
Standard Documentation Requirements... Page 7
Special Documentation Requirements and Limitations
Externally-Funded Sponsored Projects . Page 8
Exceptions to the 120 Day Limit. Page 8
Overview
As a major research university that manages a large number of sponsored
agreements, Georgia Institute of Technology must have financial systems and
procedures in place to assure compliance with the terms and conditions of the
agreements and State and Federal regulations concerning sponsored programs.
One of the most important parts of these procedures involves the documentation
and support of the distribution of salary and fringe benefits charges to sponsored
programs.
Georgia Institute of Technology policy requires that the preparation of invoices to
sponsors be based on the information in the accounting records, including the
salary and fringe benefit charges determined by the Plan Confirmation System.
In most instances, these billings are issued on a monthly basis. Every invoice
must be signed and certified by an Institute financial officer. The signature
certifies the accuracy of the charges presented on the invoice for payment:
For the above reasons, the distribution of personal service costs to sponsored
projects is a sensitive issue in the universitys operation of its sponsored
programs; it therefore receives careful scrutiny by Institute officers, sponsor
representatives, and federal government contracting officers and auditors.
Background
The Federal Government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - issued
Circular A-21, Revised, establishes principles for determining costs applicable to
grants, contracts, and other agreements between Federal agencies and
educational institutions. All Federal agencies that sponsor research and
development, training, and other work at educational institutions must apply the
provisions of this Circular in determining the costs incurred for such work.
The provisions of OMB Circular A-21 apply to all units of Georgia Tech other than
the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Employees of GTRI utilize hourly
time sheet procedures designed to comply with Federal Acquisition Regulations
31.2, which have different requirements for the documentation of personal
services expenses. The GTRI Policies & Procedures Manual includes specific
instructions for GTRI time sheet preparation and time reporting.
Georgia Tech uses the Plan-Confirmation System as the basis for its distribution
of salaries and wages for all appointed graduate students who are paid on a
monthly basis from sponsored, cost-sharing, general research and departmental
administration projects. Under this system the distribution of salaries and wages
is based on budgeted, planned, or assigned work activity, which is updated
throughout the year to reflect any significant changes in work distribution.
All graduate students who are paid on an hourly basis shall report their time
worked on bi-weekly time documents, and the Plan-Confirmation System does not
cover them. This procedure meets the requirements of OMB Circular A-21 Afterthe-Fact Activity records and no additional reporting is necessary.
Unit heads and financial managers (who have been delegated signature authority
by unit heads for submission of salary information to the Budget and SPD
Systems) are responsible for the accuracy of salary and fringe benefits
transactions. This includes confirmation that the salary charges are allowable
charges to the designated projects, and that funds are available to support such
charges.
All changes to salary distribution are to be reported and corrected as soon as
possible to assure the accuracy of monthly invoicing to sponsors. This reporting
process is covered in the SPD System operating procedures and training
programs. All retroactive salary distribution changes that add charges to
externally-funded** sponsored projects are subject to additional documentation
requirements, restrictions, and limitations.
See Retroactive Changes in
Workload Distribution.
Unit financial managers are to provide instructions and support to employees
covered by the Plan Confirmation System (PCS) to make sure that these
employees understand their responsibilities in this regard. This training is
supported by the Salary Planning and Distribution (SPD) Center in the Grants and
Contracts Accounting Office via an on-line web tutorial and/or booklet entitled
Personal Services Reporting.
After completing the required training, all
employees covered by the system are to prepare and submit an
acknowledgement form (either through electronic or manual means) indicating that
they understand their responsibilities for personal services reporting using the
Plan-Confirmation System. This completed acknowledgement must be on file in
the SPD center for all employees whose salaries are charged directly or indirectly
to sponsored projects.
The system does not require an adjustment in the employee's workload assignment for
day-to-day, or short-term, changes in his/her work schedule. However, the basic concept of
the Plan-Confirmation System does require an adjustment for all significant changes in an
employee's workload. Although there is no precise definition for the term "significant,"
Georgia Institute of Technology policy provides for a general rule that a change applicable to
a given project or activity of 5% or more of an employee's total effort over the course of the
academic term would warrant an adjustment.
Changes in an employee's workload distribution for future periods are generally acceptable
but are subject to the standard documentation requirements noted below. Future period
workload distributions are confirmed monthly via EWAF (described above).
Primary supporting documentation for Plan Confirmation System salary charges are
signed Acknowledgement Forms, Monthly Workload Assignment Forms (EWAFs), and
Annual Statements of Reasonableness (ASRs). These forms and reports are fully
explained in other sections of this policy statement.
Georgia Tech authorizes the principal investigator (PI) and the properly authorized unit
designee (financial manager and staff) to have primary responsibility for the
management of sponsored agreement funds. Therefore, the actions of these
individuals as documented using manual/electronic signatures and/or a system
password is normally considered sufficient documentation to support standard
workload allocation changes.
Employee Responsibilities
The employee has definite responsibilities in the operation of the PlanConfirmation System (PCS), and these are set forth below for his/her information
and guidance:
10
performed. If the responsible official cannot certify that he/she has personal
familiarity with all of the employee's activities, then the employee is required to
sign the statement. In some cases, an employee may be involved in a number of
activities under different supervisors, and no single person other than the
employee has firsthand knowledge of all his/her activities. In these cases, the
employee must sign the documents.
If a covered employee or graduate student completes his/her term of employment
and/or is on leave from Georgia Tech during the certification period, a special ASR
can be requested from the SPD Center for immediate confirmation prior to fiscal
year-end. These special ASRs will be prepared to reflect all salary payments
made to the employee at the end of the assignment.
Forms/Links
*******
Contact the Salary Planning and Distribution Center at spd.ask@business.gatech.edu for
additional guidance related to Personal Services Reporting using the Plan Confirmation
System.
11
12
APPENDIX I
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Instruction
OMB Circular A-21 Plan-Confirmation System requirements states that the system
will provide for independent internal evaluation to ensure the system's integrity
and compliance with applicable standards. The Internal Audit Department of
Georgia Institute of Technology performs this independent evaluation.
Reviews by Internal Audit will meet the following standards:
Instruction means the teaching and training activities of an institution. This term
includes all teaching and training activities, whether they are offered for credits toward
a degree or certificate or on a non-credit basis, and whether they are offered through
regular academic departments or separate divisions, such as a summer school division
or an extension division. Departmental research is a part of the instruction function.
1.
2.
3.
Follow-up reviews will be made to determine that prompt action has been
taken to correct any problems disclosed during the initial review.
4.
Internal Audit will document and retain as a part of the official records of
Georgia Tech, the following:
14
13
APPENDIX I
APPENDIX I
DEFINITION OF TERMS (Continued)
Foundation Supplements
Foundation supplements are salary supplements provided by the Georgia Tech
Foundation and the Callaway Foundation. Although these supplements increase the
total compensation of employees receiving them, they do not affect the budgeted EFT
and are not included as a part of the 100% effort reported for each employee on the
Annual Statement on the Reasonableness of Salary Charges.
15
16
APPENDIX II
18
17
APPENDIX III
APPENDIX IV
SPD SYSTEM PROJECT COST DETAIL REPORT
APPENDIX V
ANNUAL STATEMENT OF REASONABLENESS OF SALARY CHARGES (PAGE 1)
20
19
APPENDIX VI
ANNUAL STATEMENT OF REASONABLENESS OF SALARY CHARGES (PAGE 2)
21
22
During each year, several audits are performed on the Personal Services/PlanConfirmation System and these audits include interviews of employees. The purpose
of the interviews is to determine employees' knowledge of the Personal Services
reporting system.
This Practice Exercise has been prepared to provide examples of questions and
answers from prior interviews. Employees have provided the responses used in this
exercise during prior audits of the system.
The types of questions that have been asked during prior interviews are provided
below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
23
Scenario: You are sitting across a table from a representative from Georgia Tech and
an auditor who is conducting an audit of the Personal Services Plan-Confirmation
System. The following questions are being asked. Please select answers to these
questions based on your understanding of the Plan-Confirmation System requirements
and your activities.
1. Provide your current monthly workload assignment form.
a. What workload assignment form?
b. One moment, I'll get it out of my file.
c. I'm having chest pains.
d. It's in my briefcase at home.
e. The department's business office never gave it to me.
f. I threw it away because I didn't think it was important.
2. Do you know how the percentages of time are determined on your monthly
workload assignment?
a. I'm paid by the State of Georgia. Why should I care how the percentages are
determined?
b. Magic!
c. Gee, I have no clue how they're determined!
d. My director and I decided that I would teach 75% of my time and do research
the other 25%. The percentages reflect my workload.
e. I just do what I'm told. I guess the department's business office is determining
the percentages.
3. If you needed to make adjustments to your workload assignment, how would you
make the change?
a. I would discuss it first with my supervisor and then with his/her permission, I
would inform the department's business office about the new workload. I
would then check subsequent workload assignment forms to ensure the
change had been properly stated.
b. Call Grants & Contracts Accounting!
c. I'd never make an adjustment even if I should because it's probably more trouble
than it's worth.
d. Shouldn't my attorney be here with me?
24
9. Do you maintain any personal records of how you spend your time?
a. Should I?
b. Yes, it helps me keep track of what I'm working on each term.
c. I'm too busy for such stupidity.
d. No. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
26
25
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
b.
d.
a.
a.
a.
b.
All of the answers can be applicable.
a.
b.
a.
27